Wilderness

Why did God’s Spirit lead Jesus into the wilderness after John baptized him? Why did he not eat for 40 days? Why was he tempted? And what’s the Message for us today?

I have been thinking about the wilderness, the place where Jesus was led by the Holy Spirit; wondering, “What was it like;” wondering how Jesus’ mind was occupied, what did he think about. Was he preoccupied with his survival as we would be or was he totally centered and focused on his Father and the journey that lay before him? Was his time in the wilderness akin to what Native American Indian men encountered when they went out on a vision quest? And I wonder why we aren’t led into the wilderness by God? Or maybe we are but it’s a different type of wilderness.

The wilderness intrigues me. When I think about wilderness I imagine a barren landscape that is dry and hot with very few trees or shrubs, but I guess it could be bitter and cold too. There wouldn’t be anything there to aid our survival. Being in the wilderness would be a real survival of the fittest and the strongest. I wonder if Jesus was thinking about survival.

Probably not, since I believe he knew what was waiting for him in Jerusalem. The wilderness was a place where he could be without any distractions. He was there and didn’t worry about food or water because I think he was so focused on his communion with the Father. Kind of like but not the same as when we become so engrossed in a task that we forget to stop and eat lunch or supper. Not exactly the same since Jesus, as Luke tells it, didn’t eat for 40 days, a very long time to forget to stop and eat.

So Jesus was led into the wilderness by the Spirit of God where he was tested by the Devil. Was there ever any doubt that Jesus would pass the test? I don’t think so but…

Back when I was younger there were those who went on quests to find themselves. Do you suppose the Spirit led Jesus out into the wilderness to find himself? Do you think we are led into places of wilderness to find ourselves? I wonder…

Or are we led into the wilderness to get so lost and so in need that we can’t help but call out to the One who can save us? I wonder…

If we are led into wildernesses I wonder if they’re all the same. Is my wilderness like yours? I think they’d be different but I don’t really know. I would suppose that they’d be different because you’re probably not in search of the same thing that I’d be looking for. Would God’s Spirit be leading us to the same place? I wonder…

This idea of being led into a wilderness is a little bit scary. I’ve never been in the wilderness by myself. I think it would be very unnerving. I just realized that if the Spirit led me into the wilderness then I probably wouldn’t have time to pack any essentials, like bug stuff or bandaids or clean socks or another pair of shoes or a tent. What’s it like to be in the wilderness without our safety net? Pretty scary, I’d think.

Don’t you think we’re led into our wildernesses like Jesus so we won’t be bothered by any of the distractions or noises of the world? Are we led to the edges of our lives to walk in the shadows for awhile? Sometimes we may feel God leading us and other times we may feel like we’re being driven or herded there. I guess it doesn’t matter how we come to find ourselves in the wilderness of our lives but I believe its then that we can begin to find some clarity. Without all the noise and light pollution we might be able to hear God’s still, small voice in the silence of the wilderness. Is this place where God’s Spirit leads us close by or far away?

These are questions that came into my mind. Don’t you think we need to know these things if we’re to go on a quest in the wilderness? Even when I don’t really know where I’m headed I feel like I need to make some kind of preparations. What should we do to prepare for this wilderness journey?

I’m not sure we’re ever fully prepared when we’re led into the wilderness. Jesus may have been, but of course he was God’s Son, we’re not. It may be that our wildernesses can be found in the ordinariness of life. We go on our adventures looking for God willy nilly and he’s right here. We try to find God, and ourselves, our purpose for being, by looking in many exotic places and it very well could be that what we are seeking in the wilderness is right here. Or rather, our wilderness is right here. After all aren’t we all just a little bit lost?

All that being said I believe the Holy Spirit led Jesus out into the wilderness so that he could be very certain of the direction he was to go and who he was following. It took 40 days, a very long time, but way shorter than if it had been you or me. Oh, and he passed the test in the wilderness. I’m not sure I would have. What do you think? Would you have won the battle against temptation?

Friends, as the poet Ann Weems puts it,
“Lent is a time to take time to let the power of our faith story take hold of us; a time to let the events get up and walk around us. A time to intensify our living unto Christ; A time to hover over the thoughts of our hearts; A time to place our feet in the streets of Jerusalem or to walk along the sea and listen to his word; A time to touch his robe and feel the healing surge through us; a time to ponder and to wonder. Lent is a time to allow a fresh new taste of God!”

Ann also wrote about a different wilderness. A wilderness we know all to well.
God is somewhere in the snowing…
Unpredictably interrupting the world from its drivenness if only for a while.
Stop…wonder…ponder…and see something beyond your own schedules.
Stop…and listen to silence, snow falling on snow.
I hear a voice asking: Who are you? I search to find an answer; I falter: “I am…”
And then I see. I have the eyes to see. I have the ears to hear. I see through the falling snow, I hear through the silence, I know: I am he who belongs to I AM.

Friends, we have forty days to wander in the wilderness seeking, searching, listening, wondering, pondering. Please take time each and every day to read God’s word for you and reflect on what it is speaking to you in your wilderness. Sit in the silence and allow Him to fill you with his living water and his grace. Then you will be prepared for your journey to the Promised Land.

Thanks be to God. Amen.

God Changes You

Moses encountered God on the mountain. When he came down the people, his people were afraid because he didn’t look the same. His skin had a glow.

Peter, James, and John encountered God on the mountain. They had trekked up the mountain with Jesus and were so worn out they fell asleep. Something woke them up and what they saw was beyond their imaginations. They saw Jesus talking with Moses and Elijah. Jesus didn’t look the same either. His whole being radiated with brightness they had never seen before. Peter didn’t want to leave. He wanted to preserve this moment forever.

Many folks want to encounter God but they are never quite prepared for what they find. When people come face to face with God they are changed and it’s never exactly like they expected it to be.

Moses and the disciples were witnesses to the power of God on a mountain. And so many of us think that our experiences should all be mountain top experiences. But they’re not.

The truth is we encounter God everyday, many times without being aware of God’s presence. But every time we are changed. It may not be an external transformation but nevertheless we are changed when we come face to face with our Creator. When it happens we are amazed. We shouldn’t be because God made us and he is certainly capable of changing us if we are ready to accept him.

Most times I believe that we meet God in very ordinary places and in very ordinary situations. When we think about it God is present with us whenever we come together to worship. In fact Jesus said that that happens whenever two or three are gathered in his name, God is there. And wherever God is present the environment is changed.

Today, in this church, we will receive new members and two young people will be baptized. Change will take place and this worship space will be transformed. It always happens when God is present.

As Paul said whenever God is present, whenever we come face to face with God, “…we are transfigured much like the Messiah, our lives gradually becoming brighter and more beautiful as God enters our lives and we become like him.”

Friends, it’s a fact. God changes us. If we will allow him inside, if we accept the forgiveness he offers to us, then we will be changed. We will become different people. Maybe not on the outside but our inner being is transformed and we are new again.

I can’t explain how this takes place. All I can tell you is that it does. People are changed everyday when they let Jesus come in. And they don’t even have to go up a mountain. It happens when we come to the realization that our God is alive, Jesus is alive, the Holy Spirit is alive. Our God is a living, personal presence who wants us to experience the joy and happiness that’s available to us when we journey with him, when we invite him to walk and talk with us everyday.

God’s glory is all around us. He is in every person we meet, he is in every atom in every living thing in creation. God’s glory is everywhere and all we have to do is take the time to be with him and then he will be with us, everywhere, everyday.

Friends, God is here in this church. He is in this community. He is in those who are sitting beside you today. Look at your neighbor and you will see his glory.

You don’t have to climb a mountain to find God. You don’t have to come inside a church to find God. God will find you wherever you are.

We can’t earn our way to him. We can’t buy our transformation. It all is a free gift from God. It is grace. We all should pray that God will gift us with his grace. Amen.

Thanks be to God for his glorious, gracious presence. Amen.

Peter-Fisher of Men and Women

I’m just a fisherman. It’s what I grew up with and it’s all I know, fishing. I know about boats, nets, the water, and catching fish. My father taught me and he learned it all from his father. That’s the way things are done.

The other day this rabbi, Jesus from Nazareth, came to my house after the services at the meeting place. My wife’s mother wasn’t feeling too well. Actually, she was running a high fever and we were awfully worried. I asked him if he wouldn’t visit her thinking it might help her.

He went over to where she was resting and stood over her. He just spoke the word and the fever left her. Before we knew it she was up and about fixing dinner for all of us.

After the meal, after the sun had gone down, people began showing up at the door looking for Jesus. Everyone had someone with them who was suffering from one thing or another and they wanted him to heal them. And he did! One after another they came up and he put his hands on them and they were cured, healed. Demons left people. There was so much noise and Jesus spoke with such authority that even the demons shut up.

The next day he left and the crowds followed after him. I’ve never seen anything like this before. Never have I seen people so enthralled with the words of any rabbi, let alone one from Nazareth. He tried to gently let them know that he had other villages to visit and teach at, to tell the Message of God’s kingdom. He travelled all over Galilee preaching in their meeting places.

I kept fishing because that’s what I had to do to feed my family. The other day I had been out on the lake all night fishing with my father and James and John, the sons of Zebedee. We were just about to shore when this rabbi, Jesus waded out to my boat and climbed in. He asked me to push out a ways so he could preach to the people without getting trampled.

He taught for quite a while and then he asked us to push our boats out into the deep water and throw our nets in for a catch. We’d been fishing all night and hadn’t caught even one minnow and he was telling us to try it again! A carpenter was trying to tell us how to catch fish.

I pushed out, partly because he had healed my mother-in-law, and, well to be honest, he spoke with authority. How could I argue with him? We threw our nets out.

They had just sunk down when there was all this splashing and commotion. I couldn’t believe it. The nets were so full we could hardly get them pulled in. I hollered at James and John to come and help. We almost swamped both boats with the catch of fish.

I knew right then there was more to this man, Jesus, than I thought. Not only could he cure and heal the sick and the possessed but he knew exactly where to let down the nets so we could catch fish. There was no doubt in my mind that he was someone special. And I knew that I wasn’t and I didn’t think I should be too close to him.

There was something about him that was holy. Oh, he didn’t glow or anything like that but there was just something we could all feel.

And then he said, “There isn’t anything to be afraid of. From now on you’re going to learn from me how to fish for men and women.”

We beached the boats and left them with Zebedee. And we followed him. Our lives haven’t been the same since.

I never know where he’s headed, but I can’t keep myself from following him. James, John, and I will go wherever he goes for as long as he’ll have us. He has so much to teach us.

Friends, when you hear him speak and he tells you to push out into the deep water, don’t ask any questions. Just do it. It’ll change you whole life. When you do you will be able to leave everything behind and follow him. You will learn how to fish for men and women. You will learn how to tell the Message of God’s kingdom here on earth.

I’m glad I stayed in the boat to hear him teach. He’s changed my life and he can change yours. Listen to him. Follow him.